The Stolen White Elephant, and A Dog's Tale E-Book

Mark Twain

• Herausgeber: Bauer Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

"The Stolen White Elephant" is a short story written by Mark Twain and published in 1882 by James R. Osgood. In this short story an Indian elephant, en route from India to Britain as a gift to the Queen, disappears in New Jersey. The local police department goes into high gear to solve the mystery but it all comes to a tragic end.

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The Stolen White Elephant, and A Dog's Tale (Illustrated Edition)

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Table of contents

THE STOLEN WHITE ELEPHANT by Mark Twain I

[Left out of A Tramp Abroad, because it was feared that some of the particulars had been exaggerated, and that others were not true. Before these suspicions had been proven groundless, the book had gone to press. —M. T.]

The following curious history was related to me by a chance railway acquaintance. He was a gentleman more than seventy years of age, and his thoroughly good and gentle face and earnest and sincere manner imprinted the unmistakable stamp of truth upon every statement which fell from his lips. He said:

You know in what reverence the royal white elephant of Siam is held by the people of that country. You know it is sacred to kings, only kings may possess it, and that it is, indeed, in a measure even superior to kings, since it receives not merely honor but worship. Very well; five years ago, when the troubles concerning the frontier line arose between Great Britain and Siam, it was presently manifest that Siam had been in the wrong. Therefore every reparation was quickly made, and the British representative stated that he was satisfied and the past should be forgotten. This greatly relieved the King of Siam, and partly as a token of gratitude, partly also, perhaps, to wipe out any little remaining vestige of unpleasantness which England might feel toward him, he wished to send the Queen a present—the sole sure way of propitiating an enemy, according to Oriental ideas. This present ought not only to be a royal one, but transcendently royal. Wherefore, what offering could be so meet as that of a white elephant? My position in the Indian civil service was such that I was deemed peculiarly worthy of the honor of conveying the present to her Majesty. A ship was fitted out for me and my servants and the officers and attendants of the elephant, and in due time I arrived in New York harbor and placed my royal charge in admirable quarters in Jersey City. It was necessary to remain awhile in order to recruit the animal’s health before resuming the voyage.

All went well during a fortnight—then my calamities began. The white elephant was stolen! I was called up at dead of night and informed of this fearful misfortune. For some moments I was beside myself with terror and anxiety; I was helpless. Then I grew calmer and collected my faculties. I soon saw my course—for, indeed, there was but the one course for an intelligent man to pursue. Late as it was, I flew to New York and got a policeman to conduct me to the headquarters of the detective force. Fortunately I arrived in time, though the chief of the force, the celebrated Inspector Blunt was just on the point of leaving for his home. He was a man of middle size and compact frame, and when he was thinking deeply he had a way of kniting his brows and tapping his forehead reflectively with his finger, which impressed you at once with the conviction that you stood in the presence of a person of no common order. The very sight of him gave me confidence and made me hopeful. I stated my errand. It did not flurry him in the least; it had no more visible effect upon his iron self-possession than if I had told him somebody had stolen my dog. He motioned me to a seat, and said, calmly:

“Allow me to think a moment, please. “

So saying, he sat down at his office table and leaned his head upon his hand. Several clerks were at work at the other end of the room; the scratching of their pens was all the sound I heard during the next six or seven minutes. Meantime the inspector sat there, buried in thought. Finally he raised his head, and there was that in the firm lines of his face which showed me that his brain had done its work and his plan was made. Said he—and his voice was low and impressive:

“This is no ordinary case. Every step must be warily taken; each step must be made sure before the next is ventured. And secrecy must be observed—secrecy profound and absolute. Speak to no one about the matter, not even the reporters. I will take care of them; I will see that they get only what it may suit my ends to let them know. “ He touched a bell; a youth appeared. “Alaric, tell the reporters to remain for the present. “ The boy retired. “Now let us proceed to business— and systematically. Nothing can be accomplished in this trade of mine without strict and minute method. “

He took a pen and some paper. “Now—name of the elephant? “ “Hassan Ben Ali Ben Selim Abdallah Mohammed Moist Alhammal Jamsetjejeebhoy Dhuleep Sultan Ebu Bhudpoor. “ “Very well. Given name? “ “Jumbo. “ “Very well. Place of birth? “ “The capital city of Siam. “ “Parents living? “ “No—dead. “ “Had they any other issue besides this one? “ “None. He was an only child. “

“Very well. These matters are sufficient under that head. Now please describe the elephant, and leave out no particular, however insignificant—that is, insignificant from your point of view. To me in my profession there are no insignificant particulars; they do not exist. “

I described he wrote. When I was done, he said: “Now listen. If I have made any mistakes, correct me. “ He read as follows:

“Height, 19 feet; length from apex of forehead insertion of tail, 26 feet; length of trunk, 16 feet; length of tail, 6 feet; total length, including trunk, and tail, 48 feet; length of tusks, 9 feet; ears keeping with these dimensions; footprint resembles the mark left when one up-ends a barrel in the snow; the color of the elephant, a dull white; has a hole the size of a plate in each ear for the insertion of jewelry and possesses the habit in a remarkable degree of squirting water upon spectators and of maltreating with his trunk not only such persons as he is acquainted with, but even entire strangers; limps slightly with his right hind leg, and has a small scar in his left armpit caused by a former boil; had on, when stolen, a castle containing seats for fifteen persons, and a gold-cloth saddle-blanket the size of an ordinary carpet. “

There were no mistakes. The inspector touched the bell, handed the description to Alaric, and said:

“Have fifty thousand copies of this printed at once and mailed to every detective office and pawnbroker’s shop on the continent. “ Alaric retired. “There—so far, so good. Next, I must have a photograph of the property. “

I gave him one. He examined it critically, and said:

“It must do, since we can do no better; but he has his trunk curled up and tucked into his mouth. That is unfortunate, and is calculated to mislead, for of course he does not usually have it in that position. “ He touched his bell.

“Alaric, have fifty thousand copies of this photograph made the first thing in the morning, and mail them with the descriptive circulars. “

Alaric retired to execute his orders. The inspector said: “It will be necessary to offer a reward, of course. Now as to the amount? “ “What sum would you suggest? “

“To begin with, I should say—well, twenty-five thousand dollars. It is an intricate and difficult business; there are a thousand avenues of escape and opportunities of concealment. These thieves have friends and pals everywhere—”

“Bless me, do you know who they are? “

The wary face, practised in concealing the thoughts and feelings within, gave me no token, nor yet the replying words, so quietly uttered:

“Never mind about that. I may, and I may not. We generally gather a pretty shrewd inkling of who our man is by the manner of his work and the size of the game he goes after. We are not dealing with a pickpocket or a hall thief now, make up your mind to that. This property was not ‘lifted’ by a novice. But, as I was saying, considering the amount of travel which will have to be done, and the diligence with which the thieves will cover up their traces as they move along, twenty-five thousand may be too small a sum to offer, yet I think it worth while to start with that. “ So we determined upon that figure as a beginning. Then this man, whom nothing escaped which could by any possibility be made to serve as a clue, said:

“He would not care whether they were fresh or not; at a single meal he would eat five ordinary men. “Very good; five men; we will put that down. What nationalities would he prefer? “ “He is indifferent about nationalities. He prefers acquaintances, but is not prejudiced against strangers. “ “Very good. Now, as to Bibles. How many Bibles would he eat at a meal? “ “He would eat an entire edition. “ “It is hardly succinct enough. Do you mean the ordinary octavo, or the family illustrated? “ “I think he would be indifferent to illustrations that is, I think he would not value illustrations above simple letterpress. “ “He would require about fifty thousand dollars worth—say an edition of five hundred copies. “ “Very good. General quantity at a meal—say about—” “Well, anywhere from a quarter to half a ton. “ “And he drinks—” “Very good. As to quantity? “ “Put it down five to fifteen barrels—his thirst varies; his other appetites do not. “ “These things are unusual. They ought to furnish quite good clues toward tracing him. “ He touched the bell. “Alaric; summon Captain Burns. “ “Captain Burns, detail Detectives Jones, Davis, Halsey, Bates, and Hackett to shadow the elephant. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Detail Detectives Moses, Dakin, Murphy, Rogers, Tupper, Higgins, and Bartholomew to shadow the thieves. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Yes, sir. “ “If the elephant should be found, let him be seized, and the information forwarded to me by telegraph. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Let me be informed at once if any clues should be found footprints of the animal, or anything of that kind. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Get an order commanding the harbor police to patrol the frontages vigilantly. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Despatch detectives in plain clothes over all the railways, north as far as Canada, west as far as Ohio, south as far as Washington.” “Yes, sir. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Let all these things be done with the utmost’s secrecy—mind, the most impenetrable secrecy. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Report to me promptly at the usual hour. “ “Yes, Sir. “ “Go! “ “Yes, sir. “ He was gone. “It is not our province to prevent crime, but to punish it. We cannot punish it until it is committed. “ “Yes, we always do that; it has a good effect. Besides, I had not formed any opinion on that point, anyway. “ DARLEY, Detective. “Darley’s one of the best men on the force, “ said the inspector. “We shall hear from him again before long. “ Telegram No. 2 came: DARLEY, Detective. “That promises well, too, “ said the inspector. “I told you the creature’s appetites would not be bad clues. “ HUBBARD, Detective. “How he does move around! “ said the inspector “I knew we had a difficult job on hand, but we shall catch him yet. “ was frozen last winter. Give me orders how to proceed. DARLEY, Detective. “Aha! a confederate of the thieves! The thing, grows warm, “ said the inspector. He dictated the following telegram to Darley: Arrest the man and force him to name his pals. Continue to follow the tracks to the Pacific, if necessary. Chief BLUNT. Next telegram: MURPHY, Detective. “Heavens! “ said the inspector; “would he eat gas bills? “ “Through ignorance—yes; but they cannot support life. At least, unassisted. “ Now came this exciting telegram: HAWES, Detective I uttered exclamations of joy. The inspector was as self-contained as a graven image. He calmly touched his bell. “Alaric, send Captain Burns here. “ Burns appeared. “How many men are ready for instant orders? “ “Ninety-six, sir. “ “Send them north at once. Let them concentrate along the line of the Berkley road north of Ironville. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Let them conduct their movements with the utmost secrecy. As fast as others are at liberty, hold them for orders. “ “Yes, sir. “ “Go! “ “Yes, sir. “ Presently came another telegram: portion of the policeman as clue. STUMM, Detective. BRANT, Detective. I could have shed tears, this havoc so distressed me. But the inspector only said: “You see—we are closing in on him. He feels our presence; he has turned eastward again. “ Yet further troublous news was in store for us. The telegraph brought this: O’FLAHERTY, Detective. “Now he is right in the midst of my men, “ said the inspector. “Nothing can save him. “ BOGGS, Detective. “That is perfectly absurd! “ I exclaimed. “Of course it is, “ said the inspector. “Evidently Mr. Barnum, who thinks he is so sharp, does not know me—but I know him. “ Then he dictated this answer to the despatch: Mr. Barnum’s offer declined. Make it $7,000 or nothing. Chief BLUNT. Done. —P. T. BARNUM. MULROONEY, Detective. BRENT, Detective. But the day passed without other result. The next day the same. The next just the same. By advice of the inspector I doubled the reward. “Let them rail on; he laughs best who laughs last. “ Within the hour these offensive answers came: YE OWLD FOOL: brick Duffys bin ded 2 yere. BRIDGET MAHONEY. CHIEF BAT, —Red McFadden is hung and in heving 18 month. Any Ass but a detective know that. MARY O’HOOLIGAN. “I had long suspected these facts, “ said the inspector; “this testimony proves the unerring accuracy of my instinct. “ A. —xWhlv. 242 ht. Tjnd—fz328wmlg. Ozpo, —2 m! 2m!. M! ogw. We could do nothing till then, and I lost no time in getting out of the office, and was grateful indeed for the privilege. “We’ve compromised! The jokers will sing a different tune tomorrow! Follow me! “ “Our noble profession is vindicated. Here is your elephant! “ A telegram arrived, which read: DARLEY, Detective. By Mark Twain Frontpiece CHAPTER I. Do you think I could forget that? No. CHAPTER III. “Come back to us—oh, come back to us, and forgive—it is all so sad without our—” “There, I’ve won—confess it! He’s as blind as a bat!” And they all said: